Spellbound
by Asynca
Summary: Stellagosa pays Jaina an unexpected visit, because if there's anyone who loves magic as much as Jaina, it's a blue dragon. F/F


"Oh, dear. This is rather embarrassing. Lady Proudmoore, are you there?"

Startled, Jaina looked up from the thick tome she had spread across her desk. People didn't often visit her by suddenly appearing on her balcony; even Khadgar usually chose the front door these days. The voice seemed pleasant and harmless enough, though, so rather than reach for her staff, she twisted in her chair to see who it was instead.

A woman was standing on her private balcony, unarmed and wearing a pretty blue sundress. She couldn't see in, but Jaina could see her: pale as a ghost, dry despite the fact it was pouring with rain, and her whole body humming with an undercurrent of power that was all too familiar to Jaina. She was beautiful, too—the sort of beauty one only achieves when able to choose one's own form. Jaina didn't believe for a second that she was the high elf she appeared to be. "Lady Proudmoore, are you in?"

Well, now she was curious. What was this woman doing here? It didn't seem to be an emergency. She closed her book and stood. "Yes, I'm in."

"Oh, good!" The woman relaxed a little as Jaina approached the balcony door. "Your guards told me you weren't, and I had a feeling I could sense you here anyway. I had hoped to speak directly to you, but I can't get through your wards."

Jaina deactivated those wards and pulled the drape aside. "Well, I have a lot of enemies." _And I should really be worried that you are one of them_ , Jaina realised, but wasn't at all. There was something terribly genuine about her visitor. "I apologise my guards didn't show you upstairs. It's sometimes hard for them to tell which sort of elves are welcome here." She paused, wondering if she should say it: "Perhaps you should have appeared in your true form?"

The woman laughed openly at the suggestion. "Oh, no!" she said. "Unexpected dragons tend to be attacked, especially in human cities! It's better I just come to speak with you privately than transform back into a dragon right in front of your guards."

Jaina smiled to herself. She'd been right. Now, what was she doing here?

The woman gathered herself, smoothing her still-dry hair as the rain fell around her. "Anyway, I apologies for the intrusion," she said, still looking a bit sheepish. "My name is Stellagosa, grand-daughter of Senegos of the Blue Dragonflight."

…the Blue Dragonflight?

 _Oh_. Suddenly, Jaina had a feeling why Stellagosa was here. She exhaled at length, standing away from the door to allow her visitor to enter. "I suppose Kalec sent you?" she asked, with a feeling she knew the answer.

Stellagosa shot her a confused look. "No?"

Wait—"He _didn't_ send you?" Jaina frowned.

Stellagosa shook her head. She looked so earnest, Jaina didn't doubt her for a moment. "No, I—well, I know you two were lovers, but Kalec and I are not close. He wouldn't send me on a personal errand."

Well, this was a turn of events. "If you're not here for Kalec, forgive me, but why are you here?"

Stellagosa laughed again—perhaps a little nervously. "To meet you, of course!"

"To meet me?"

Stellagosa nodded. "I would have waited for you to return to Dalaran, but everyone there says you're not likely to be back for some time. So, I came to you instead."

Jaina closed the balcony door behind her so the rain didn't blow in. "And why would you want to meet me?"

Stellagosa gave her a bright smile. "Why would any blue dragon, masters of the arcane, _not_ want to meet the most powerful mage in Azeroth?" She gestured at Jaina. "My grandfather would absolutely have my head if I didn't reach out to you at some point: all that knowledge you must have! There must be an entire library in your head."

 _Oh_. A smile rose to Jaina's lips and she felt the tension in her shoulders ease. "Well. I do like magic," she conceded mildly, leading Stellagosa towards her parlour. "May I get you a drink, perhaps? You must have flown a long way."

"Only if you're pouring yourself one," Stellagosa said, following her. "I've embarrassed myself quite enough already: a blue dragon who can't even undo a protection ward! Don't tell my grandfather, he'd disown me."

"I won't tell if you don't," Jaina said, chuckling. "And don't feel terrible about not being able to disable them. They're modelled on Old Kalimdor wards from the Kaldorei Empire—not even a dragon may have come across such ancient magic."

Stellagosa stopped in place. "From the Kaldorei empire?" Jaina nodded. "How in heavens did you find wards from that long ago to take model from?"

Jaina was very pleased to be asked the question: it was something she was quite proud of discovering. "Well, the beauty of that empire is that so much of it is washed out to sea that it's relatively untouched. You can lift some of the wards straight out of the stone if you can get down to them."

Stellagosa was nodding. "Of course…" she said, and then stood in place for a second, fighting an internal battle with herself. "Lady Proudmoore, I—"

"Please. 'Jaina' is fine."

"—Jaina, then," she smiled briefly at the concession, "I apologise for asking you right away, but could I trouble you to show me exactly how you set up those wards? I simply couldn't make sense of them, I didn't know where to start."

Jaina had to laugh—swapping spells with someone in the first two minutes of meeting them? That sounded like something she herself would be tempted to do: skip the small talk and go straight to spellcraft. "It would be my pleasure," she said, and led Stellagosa back to the door.

While she was pointing out nodes and explaining how they were set up to the most attentive student she'd had in years, it did strike her as passing odd that she was so willing to give this dragon all the secrets of how to get into her home. It hadn't even occurred to her to refuse Stellagosa's request. Why was that? She wouldn't normally trust so easily.

 _It's probably because she's a blue dragon_ , Jaina decided and dismissed her concern. Stellagosa's interest in her spells reminded her a little of Kalec.

Like Kalec had been, Stellagosa was very impressed with the wards. She shook her head, touching the doorway and running her hands over the surface as if she could actually _see_ the spell weave. "This is simply beautiful," she said. "It's soft like lace—but with the tide magic and the Kaldorei spells weaved together it's more impenetrable than steel. Truly, this is the most beautiful ward I have ever seen."

Jaina was smiling. She'd never heard her wards described as beautiful before. "Thank you."

Stellagosa finished touching the door and whatever she could see there and turned around to Jaina. "It's simply _fascinating_ how someone who can't see mana itself can create such a thing," she said, and then gave Jaina the look of someone who was admiring an exotic beast. "I see now why everyone talks about you. Your skill is impressive."

There was an unspoken 'for a human' in that sentence—there always was, with dragons—but Jaina still felt like her compliments were genuine. She smiled. "Well, I've worked very hard and made many sacrifices for what I have achieved."

Stellagosa nodded, and continued to regard her with a sort of fascinated curiosity. After a moment of biting her lip, she sighed and laughed at herself. "You know, I'm not going to forgive myself if I don't ask," she said. "May I test your power? I'm ever so anxious to see the strength of it with my own eyes."

It was such an odd request of a stranger. Odd, but also so predictable: dragons loved to study things. It was what they did, it was an aspect of them Jaina had always found so easy to relate to. She, too, wanted to immediately deconstruct and understand magic she hadn't seen before. Stellagosa's unbridled curiosity was—yes, probably rather strange behaviour to most people, but so familiar and so comfortable Jaina herself.

Additionally, and Jaina was perhaps a little hesitant to admit it, but she found Stellagosa herself rather charming. It wasn't often she liked someone so quickly.

There was only one answer Jaina could give. "Yes, you can test me if you wish," she said, still smiling. "But if you're going take me to my limits, I'm afraid we're going to need to go somewhere far more deserted than Boralus."

Stellagosa brightened immediately, moving towards the door. "Shall we go right away?"

"Right away?" Jaina had to chuckle as she followed Stellagosa back outside into the rain. "Shouldn't you buy me dinner first?"

Stellagosa shot her a grin, peering over the balcony to make sure no one was watching them. "I'll take you somewhere wonderful afterwards," she promised.

"I bet you say that to all the mages."

Stellagosa laughed good-naturedly, turning back towards her for a moment. She put a hand on Jaina's arm for a moment. "You're such a delight," she said, and then shed her high elf form as easily as slipping off a dress. "Climb on."

With a very practiced movement Jaina followed Stellagosa's instructions, a little distracted by the unexpected compliment she'd be paid. She was used to comments on her magic—even comments on her appearance. But people didn't typically compliment her temperament—at least, they didn't ordinarily _compliment_ it—and certainly no one had called her a delight before, not even Kalecgos. Then again, she hadn't been much of a delight to be around when she'd been with him.

Lost in thought, she secured herself between Stellagosa's wings, and then felt the colossal muscles heave beneath her as they launched into the air and quickly away from the city.

Jaina loved flying. She didn't have much need of it these days—portals and teleportation were far more convenient—but it was so nostalgic. Kalec used to take her flying all the time when she was really upset; the exhilaration of the ground rushing past below her had been a welcome distraction from her thoughts. This time, though, she was distracted _by_ her thoughts instead of from them.

Stellagosa felt much the same as Kalec had beneath her. A little thinner and lighter, perhaps, but not a great distinction to someone as small as a human. Stellagosa hummed with the same energy Kalec had; when Jaina placed her hands on Stellagosa's butter smooth scales, she could feel the same well of power Kalec had had beneath them.

It was such a similar experience that Jaina had to be very, very careful of herself. When her mind wandered, she found herself idly stroking Stellagosa's scales with the same tenderness that she had Kalec's. Likewise, sitting astride Stellagosa felt identical to sitting astride Kalec, and sitting astride Kalec had often ended in love-making. It was an association that was hard to break.

 _Perhaps I should visit Kalec tonight_ , she found herself thinking, reflecting on just how long it had been since someone touched her. However, she shot that thought down immediately; they hadn't been right for each other. It wouldn't be fair for her to show up on his doorstep asking him to meet her physical needs when she knew he wanted to be more to her than just—

—she was tenderly stroking Stellgosa's scales again.

Horrified at herself, she snatched her hands back and went red.

"Don't stop, that was pleasant," said a somewhat smug voice from beneath her.

Jaina could _not_ have been redder. "My apologies," she mumbled, aghast. "Force of habit."

There was mirth in Stellagosa's voice. "Keep that habit," she told Jaina as they landed in the middle of a big, open moor along the seaside. "Will this place do, do you think?"

Trying to push aside thoughts of what had just happened, Jaina surveyed the area. It was isolated enough. "I'm going to ruin the grass," she said somewhat regretfully.

"It will regrow," Stellagosa promised and then trotted some distance away, each of her heavy footsteps shaking the ground. "How would you like to do this?" she called. "Do you just want to free cast?"

That hadn't been how Khadgar had tested her. "Shouldn't you attack me?" she called back. "That's how people have always tested me in the past."

Stellagosa hesitated. "Alright," she said. "But perhaps we should have brought a priest."

Jaina scoffed. "Don't worry," she said somewhat smugly as she pulled her staff out of the air next to her and began to draw on her power. "I'll stop before I hurt you."

It felt good to be casting again. Stellagosa began very gingerly at first, treating Jaina like something fragile and porcelain. Before long, however, she learnt Jaina was no lightweight and there was no need to pull her punches. _That_ was when Jaina felt her blood begin to sing. She didn't get much opportunity unload the full force of her magic on someone; much less someone who could so expertly deflect or counter it. Khadgar was too busy to spar with her these days, and Kalec had always refused to indulge her violent side.

Stellagosa was unbothered by it, and countered all of Jaina's taunts with roars of her own.

Eventually, when their muscles were both shaking from the exertion and when they'd well and truly razed the field to the ground, they called a stalemate.

Jaina sank to the ground at the edge of the embankment, a big grin of her face. "I didn't give you everything I have," she told Stellagosa, who landed next to her, slipped into her high elf form, and dropped into the frost-burnt soil beside her.

"I know," Stellagosa told her, shooting her a rather wide-eyed look as she smoothed her hair. "I'm impressed. I've never had a human hold her own against me before."

"Well, there's a first time for everything," Jaina told her with a smile. "And next time, I'll beat you."

Stellagosa laughed; it was a lyrical sound. "I look forward to it," she said indulgently, and then flopped back to lie in what was left of the grass. "Would you mind terribly if we rested for a time? I don't think I could fly anywhere just now."

Jaina didn't mind at all. It had become such a beautiful evening, and the stars were just appearing on the horizon. "I could do with a rest before we leave, too."

Beside her in the grass, Stellagosa was grinning. "Yes, I need you to keep your energy up," she said, eyes twinkling. "I want another nice backrub as we return."

Jaina grimaced. "I hope I didn't make you too uncomfortable?" She snuck a glance at the woman lying beside her to try and gauge the level of transgression—Stellagosa just smiled back at her, shaking her head as if it were nothing. She didn't seem uncomfortable at all.

In fact, it seemed as if rather than brushing the matter under the rug, she wanted to openly speak of it, as she did everything. "Is it that I remind you of Kalecgos?"

Jaina froze. She opened her mouth and then closed it. Since Stellagosa clearly already knew the answer, there was no point in hiding it. "Yes," she said. "I apologise if that bothers you."

Stellagosa was thoughtful. "No," she said easily, looking back up at the sky. "You loved him, so I suppose that's not a feeling I mind invoking at all."

 _Love is not exactly the feeling you invoke_ , Jaina answered privately, thinking of how familiar it felt to be astride a dragon and how her body expected that experience would end. Of course, she kept _that_ particular thought to herself, easing sore body down onto the grass beside Stellagosa.

It was a relief to have the opportunity to relax after their sparring—but odd, all the same. Jaina could count the people she'd relaxed beside in this manner on one hand; she wasn't ordinarily given to being so free with people. She wondered what it was about Stellagosa that had made the process so easy.

 _It can't just be that she reminds me of Kalec_ , Jaina decided. She did, very much so, but there was also something very earnest and genuine about her that was difficult not to like. How many people would visit someone by landing on their balcony, trying to disable their wards and then immediately asking to be shown how the wards were set? _That_ was very much unlike Kalec. In fact, she suspected that Stellagosa and Kalec would not see eye to eye on very much at all.

And yet, despite only just having met her, Jaina suspected that the two of them might have rather a lot more in common than she'd ever had with Kalec. That thought, bundled with those feelings she'd been having while astride Stellagosa in her dragon form, was rather uncomfortable to sit with. Stellagosa was a _female_ dragon, she reminded herself.

To hammer that sentiment home to herself, she turned her head to look across at Stellagosa, expecting to short-circuit her feelings by forcefully reminding herself that Stellagosa was a woman. Instead, she found the opposite: lying beside her was a _very_ beautiful woman, humming with a familiar energy and showing more skin than a bathhouse. Jaina wasn't at all put off at all by how she looked; in fact, she found all that skin rather inviting. Noticing Jaina was looking at her, Stellagosa gave her a gentle smile.

Jaina managed a somewhat strained smile in return, and then looked immediately upward at the sky.

"This is a very pleasant way to spend an evening, is it not?" Stellagosa reflected and—to Jaina's dismay—placed a hand lightly atop Jaina's on the ground beside them.

It was a platonic gesture, something two friends might do without thinking. However, coupled with Jaina's recent thoughts and just how very long it had been since anyone had touched her even inadvertently, it was _electrifying_.

 _I'm interested in her_ , Jaina realised. She tried to push those thoughts aside long enough to answer, simply, "It is."

Stellagosa didn't stop there. As if sensing Jaina's thoughts— _god_ , Jaina hoped she couldn't read her thoughts—she propped herself up on an elbow.

Jaina could feel those rich blue eyes on her. She hoped Stellagosa couldn't see how breathless she was.

Perhaps she could. She squeezed Jaina's hand and appeared to spend a moment considering what she was going to say. "Since it's such beautiful weather," she began, "should we end this splendid evening with a dip in the ocean? There's no one around, after all…"

Jaina's lips parted. There was—well, only one way to interpret that suggestion: as an invitation. Swimming in the ocean would require them to shed their clothes, and _that_ was not something you did with a friend you'd just met—not unless you didn't have entirely platonic designs on them.

Jaina let that knowledge settle in: Stellagosa was interested in her, as well.

It wasn't an unpleasant thought in itself: swimming naked was already pleasant, but swimming alongside Stellagosa and having those electric hands on her body—being skin-to-skin with her—being _kissed_ again, and properly—god, it had been so long—

 _This could go somewhere_ , Jaina realised, unsettled by the discovery, _somewhere further than just shedding our clothes and bathing together in the ocean. Even if we're both women, it could go somewhere._

It was such an odd thought, making love with a woman (how would they know when to stop?), but Jaina was surprised how welcome a prospect it was. All the surging blood in her veins _begged_ her to accept Stellagosa's invitation so she could have passion spent and her questions answered—but she shouldn't.

Not straight away, and not like this. If she was going to get involved with a woman, she wanted to ensure she was making the right decision. People would talk, and she wanted to be able to face them directly and answer them. She wasn't ready to have that conversation just yet.

She looked towards Stellagosa, and it was her turn to squeeze Stellagosa's hand. "My apologies," she said warmly, "I'm afraid this is one request of yours I'm going to have to decline." She paused. "At least, for now."

Stellagosa looked disappointed. She was silent for a moment, and then she laughed somewhat miserably at herself. "I apologise, too: I get ahead of myself, sometimes. That wasn't really appropriate of me to ask."

Jaina laughed. "Nothing of what you've asked today was appropriate to ask. And yet, here I am."

Stellagosa's smile brightened in acknowledgement. "That is true," she said, and then she turned a pair of adoring eyes on her. "Thank you, Jaina."

That look put butterflies in Jaina's stomach. It was so pleasant to have someone regard her that way that Jaina nearly changed her mind about swimming and had to fight a whole battle with herself not to renege on her refusal.

And, rather than lie there with Stellagosa and spend all evening fighting with herself about how easy it would be to just reach out and touch all that beautiful soft skin she had on display, Jaina pushed herself up on shaky arms. "I recall you promising to take me 'somewhere wonderful afterward'," she reminded her. "I'm keen on seeing what a dragon's idea of wonderful is."

"Yes, I did promise that," Stellagosa conceded, but she had rather a cheeky grin. "Is it truly 'afterward', though? The evening feels unfinished."

 _Pfft_. "You'll have to finish it yourself later, then," Jaina said, surprised she could say something so incredibly suggestive to someone she'd just met. "You have a promise to keep. Are you rested enough to fly?"

"I'm rested enough to do a great many things," Stellagosa told her, but rather than linger on that point, she rolled away from Jaina and turned back into a dragon. "Such as having you ride me."

These exchanges were almost too much for Jaina; she'd never been much of a flirt. She pushed the nervous butterflies back down into her stomach and pretended to shoot Stellagosa a tired look for her choice of words as she climbed on. Under her, Stellagosa chuckled.

They launched into the air again, turning out toward the ocean. Jaina had no idea where Stellagosa was taking her, but she found she didn't mind at all. It was all so exhilarating: the flight, the company, and indulging their mutual attraction.

"I can't wait to see how much you love where I've chosen to take us," Stellagosa back to her. "It's one of my favourite places."

Jaina was looking forward to the surprise. As Stellagosa was explaining cryptically why it was so perfect, it occurred to Jaina that rather a lot of thought had gone into this choice. It seemed as if she'd planned it. Jaina interrupted her. "Stellagosa, did you come to visit me intending to," she struggled with how to describe it, "intending for us to have this effect on each other?"

Jaina felt laugher underneath her. "Not at all! I had intended to just befriend you, but then I saw your beautiful wards and I couldn't think of anything else."

That made Jaina laugh, too. The thought of wooing someone with her magic had never occurred to her before: she rarely came across people who were as interested in magic as she was. _It takes a blue dragon to be as passionate about the arcane as I am_ , she thought, and looked down at the dragon underneath her.

It wasn't Kalec, but she found with some surprise that she didn't want it to be. Kalec would never throw war magic around with her, and Kalec was far too polite and respectful to be as flirtatious as Stellagosa was. She preferred _this_ arrangement.

Even through her gloves, she could feel Stellagosa's warm, smooth scales. Smiling, she let her fingertips run across them—along the larger scales at the centre of her back, down to the smaller, softer ones at the base of her wings. Stellagosa did say anything about it, but Jaina could imagine what she was thinking.

Chewing her lip, Jaina reflected on how much willpower it was going to take to keep her hands to herself when they arrived whenever Stellagosa was taking them. Still, Jaina had never been one to back down from a challenge, or one to admit defeat. She had a feeling she was going to enjoy every moment of sweet torment an evening spent with Stellagosa had to offer.


End file.
